By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
The Princeton Day School girls soccer program solidified itself as an elite program on Tuesday when the Panthers captured their second straight state Prep B championship.
The win gave the Panthers their third straight year with a championship, having captured the Mercer County Tournament title in 2013.
Hannah Bunce scored with under three minutes left in overtime to lift the Panthers past Montclair Kimberley, 1-0.
“We had a great game,” PDS coach Pat Trombetta said. “MKA had an unbelievable season. They had outscored the opposition, 90-10, coming in and they have one of top scorers in the state, Olivia Vaughn, who going to Boston College. We knew we were in for a tough game.”
The Panthers rose to the occasion on defense, keeping MKA off the scoreboard for nearly 100 minutes. Grace Barbara made six saves in goal, while Abby Atkeson was assigned the task of trying to limit Vaughn.
“We assigned Abby the responsibility of marking her and she did a great job,” Trombetta said. “The girl got hurt in second half, but Abby limited her opportunities throughout the game. She had one quality chance.”
With defenders Madison Coyne, Rebecca Kuzmicz, Emily Simons and Isabel Meyercord helping to get the job done on defense, the Panthers held their own until Bunce was able to break through with a goal off an assist from Kelsey Lane.
The win gave the Panthers their fifth championship under Trombetta and second straight Prep B title.
“It is great,” the PDS coach said. “The girls are excited. They look at it as three championships in row with the MCT in 2013 and the Prep B the last two years. We have built a good program here and the girls have a lot of confidence based on the success we have had.
“(Meyercord) was our only senior this year so the future looks bright. Isabel was such an important part of our team. She had the unfortunate situation of breaking her leg sophomore and junior year, the right and then the left. She was able to bounce back and gave us a great season.”
The Panthers finished 17-2-1, equally the mark for best overall record in a season that had previously been accomplished in 1994 and 2013.
“I am very proud of what we have done here as a program,” Trombetta said. “We have had five championships in my nine years. I am proud of it but mostly I feel fortunate with the players that have come through the program. I also have two great coaches with Howie Powers and BrieAnne Nomejko.
“I felt like the difference this year was the balance we had. We have one of the top ‘keepers around and our back four is solid. In the midfield we got a lot of contributions from freshmen. We had two freshmen start in the center midfield. And I felt like Hannah Bunce had a breakout year. I don’t know if we have ever had the balance that we had this year.”
The Cougars opened the season with a tie against George School and suffered just two losses the rest of the way — one to eventual Prep A champion Pennington and the other to Notre Dame in the Mercer County Tournament.
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The PDS boys reached the finals of the state Prep B tournament but fell to Gill-St. Bernard’s, 2-1. On Sunday. David Cedeno scored the lone goal of the game for the Panthers, who won seven of their final nine games to close the season.
